Reinickendorf's Highest Climbing Tower

Bringing the neighbourhood together

In the northwest of Berlin, near the city border with Brandenburg lies the Reinickendorf district frohnau. Originally designed as a "garden city", the neighbourhood is still characterized by cobblestones, unpaved sand paths, pines and fir trees, as well as numerous villas from the 1910s to the 1930s. In the middle of this suburban idyll is the Ludwig-Lesser-Park, which is characterized in particular by a high natural condition and is thus not only known to the inhabitants of Frohnau as an attractive recreation area.

For many years, a natural children's playground has been located here in a clearing. After the last time it had gotten a lot of old, an elaborate transformation followed. In autumn 2018, the time had come: a highly varied adventure playground, consisting of various play and sports areas that have the ambition to be attractive across generations, was officially opened.

The absolute highlight is a play and climbing tower from the berlin rope factory, which is more than ten metres high. Equipped with two slides and a huge indoor space network, Triitopia offers unlimited possibilities for fun and adventure on seven floors. A connecting tunnel of nets connects several levels on the outside of the climbing sculpture, thus offering an exciting ascent alternative to the space network.

Also visually, the game tower is a real eye-catcher. From an unpredictable interplay of transparent and closed facade elements, which are closely, nested and asymmetrically combined, the appearance of a magical adventure world in which reality and fiction merge emerges. The predominantly orange and purple facade elements make the tower a luminous appearance against the green background of the forest. By finishing with panels made of bamboo, it adapts simultaneously to the natural environment of the park.

Local politics are enthusiastic: "With the largest slide and climbing tower in Reinickendorf, the Ludwig-Lesser-Park has been given a special attraction," says District Councillor Katrin Schultze-Berndt, who opened the playground together with District Mayor Frank Balzer and the children of the surrounding schools and kindergartens under the motto "Voltage – Play and Sport".

Those who prefer ground-level climbing will get their money's worth in the neighbouring low ropes course. Eight different climbing elements are connected in a circular way. Good climbers have the opportunity to climb the course in one piece without touching the ground. "Our terranos low rope seam gardens are among the most versatile systems in our product range,"says David Köhler, Managing Partner at the Berlin Rope Factory.

"Most elements used in terranos are attached to the straight posts with a Frox connector, so clamping and snapping points within the reach of children's hands are avoided. The Frox is attached to the post with a height-adjustable terranos clamp. In this way, any number of climbing elements can be combined in all directions and independently of the geographical events."

In the middle of the low-rope course stands the rotating climbing device O'Tannebaum and offers the children the opportunity to make rounds together after a climbing game.

Another highlight of the new playground is an extensive toddler area, which is specifically geared to the needs of children aged 0 to 3 years for early motor and psychomotor development. In addition to a sand workshop and the Bowl Swingnest swing, the Roo M.03 playhouse of the Spooky Rookies range stands out, whose roof and gable elements are decorated in the bright colours orange and purple.

The mud tables at the bottom of the playhouse invite you to play role-playing games in which language and social skills are promoted in a playful way. An ascent ramp makes it possible for the upper part of the house to be reached crawling before it goes down again via the small-child-friendly slide – a form of movement that has a positive effect on spatial perception and improves the feeling of balance as well as the coordination skills of the little ones.

The climbingcalisthenics facility,which has been installed within sight of the play area, proves that the newly designed playground in Ludwig-Lesser-Park actually has the ambition to be attractive across generations. Stretch and chin-up bars at different heights, a rungs and fishing ladder as well as a bar are ideal for the daily workout with a wide variety of exercises for young and old.

The playground is rounded off by a triple swing. The special thing about it: the individual swings are arranged in a semicircle. This way, the children see each other during the swing and can communicate with each other. The enthusiasm of the surrounding population about the redesigned playground is also reflected in the comments of social networks on the Internet. As one visitor writes:"The playground has become quite great - very well thought out, the park was included great (...). But the best thing is that there are great play equipment for all ages!" Another reported: "Were there today. Really beautiful! The kids were really having fun."